Description

Reel 1 continued.

Metal plates are laid into place. Panning shot of the main deck. Propeller shaft brackets are caulked. Low angle shot of man working on a large pipe. Inside the foundry - fires blaze under pieces of metal. Men work to bend and shape the metal. L/S of how the liner will look when finished - a liner out to sea. A huge propellor is winched into place. Two halves of the huge rudder are bolted together. Men paint the sides of the ship.

"Broad in the beam and sloping aft with graceful curve..." the ship is launched. Low angle shot of the liner in berth. It is the Duchess of Atholl. Various shots of the ship before the launch. Her Grace the Duchess of Athol, M.P. (accompanied by Sir George McLaren Brown) performs the ceremony. C/U of the dignitaries before the launch. "...See! She stirs! She starts - she moves - she seems to feel, The thrill of life along her keel..." - Longfellow." We see the hull begin to slide. The liner moves away into the water. C/U of the propellor entering the water. "Ten thousand tons of inert steel afloat in the Clyde..." Various shots of the ship in the water.

Note: although in the intertitle The Duchess of Athol has only one L, the ship is the Duchess of Atholl with two Ls.

10 telling images selected from British Pathé's extensive WWI footage. 'The war to end all wars' was a war without parallel: over 70 million military personnel were involved and over 17 million people died.